Fissler Confidential: Scotland duo's Gallagher PREM club future in balance

Benet Kumeroa, who was named in the Highlanders squad for the 2027 Super Rugby Pacific, has the potential to be Irish and English-qualified, so he is being looked at for a potential switch to the United Rugby Championship and the Gallagher PREM.

Bay of Plenty tighthead Kumeroa, 26, has represented the M?ori All Blacks and the All Blacks XV, has also won international weightlifting honours for his country and made eight appearances for the Chiefs last season.

Bristol Bears and the four Irish provinces will be watching him closely after Highlanders boss Jamie Joseph called him up, with Jermaine Ainsley expected to miss most of the season with a shoulder injury he suffered while playing in the NPC.

Back-to-back Champions Cup winners Bordeaux Bègles have set their sights on a move for Leicester Tigers inside centre Solomone Kata.

The Tongan international can also play outside centre and wing, and has played over 60 games for the Tigers after stints with the Brumbies, Moana Pasifika and Exeter Chiefs. His much-travelled career began in the NRL with the New Zealand Warriors and Melbourne Storm.

It could be a potential headache for Geoff Parling, who failed to lure England international Seb Atkinson away from Gloucester this week when he opted to sign a new deal to stay at Kingsholm.

Bath’s inside centre Cam Redpath, out of contract at the end of the season, has attracted interest from French clubs, with no agreement in place to stay with the former Gallagher PREM champions beyond the summer.

Scotland international Redpath, 26, has played over 100 games in his seven years and qualifies for a French passport after being born in Narbonne, where his father, Bryan, played at the Parc des Sports et de l’Amitié.

Bath also have Max Ojomoh in the final year of his contract, and there are whispers of a new deal in the pipeline for a player who has been linked with Gallagher PREM rivals Leicester Tigers in the past.

All Blacks superstar Damian McKenzie has been linked with a post-2027 Rugby World Cup move to Top 14 outfit Lyon, but it would appear that they might have some competition for his services.

McKenzie, 31, is one of several All Blacks who are being touted for moves to clubs around the globe, including Beauden Barrett, who is rumoured to be a target for Bristol Bears.

McKenzie, who plays full-back and fly-half, has some interest from Japan, which could throw a spanner in the works of Lyon’s bid to take him to the Top 14.

Saracens have seen off a bid from unbeaten United Rugby Championship leaders Edinburgh in their battle to keep Scotland fly-half Fergus Burke in North London when his contract runs out at the end of the season.

Edinburgh were keen to take Burke, who was also attracting interest from Newcastle Red Bulls in the summer, to the Border next season, but the signs are he is staying in the Gallagher PREM.

Burke, 27, won his first Scotland cap in 2025 and has made 50 appearances for Saracens since moving from the Crusaders when Owen Farrell moved to France to play for Racing 92.

Harlequins boss Jason Gilmore says the club’s recruitment focus next season will be adding depth to their pack to help develop the highly rated youngsters underpinning their squad.

Fissler Confidential understands that a lock and a tighthead are on Gilmore’s shopping list and says that he is happy with the progress that Quins’ pack has made this season.

“It still needs a little bit of work with recruitment across the next cycle. We’ve got some great youngsters that are starting to come through that we’re showing belief in,” he said.

Emma Sanderson, the wife of Sale Sharks boss Alex, could hold the key to Courtney Lawes extending his contract beyond the end of the season, and a deal could be struck on a padel tennis court with the Saints legend’s missus, Jess.

Sanderson told Fissler Confidential this week that he is keen for Lawes to extend his career for another year, but might have to win Mrs Lawes round, which is where his secret weapon could come into play.

“My wife is currently playing padel with her every Friday and getting her ass kicked. They’re all pretty shit apart from Jess Lawes, who’s got a padel court her dad built for her in the back garden. She’s really good,” he said.

Long-serving Bath winger Will Muir is out of contract at the end of the season and has been linked with a move to clubs in France, with whispers that Stade Français is one of the clubs he was offered to.

Muir, 31, won two England caps against Argentina in July 2025 after helping Bath win a PREM title with a victory over Leicester Tigers, and has scored 43 tries in 90 appearances during his spell at The Rec.

Bath have already lost loosehead Beno Obano, who is joining Pau next summer, while they are understood to have signed Saracens and Wales international Rhys Carre, who was devastating against Harlequins last weekend, as his replacement.